Angelica Magazine

I can't find anything else about them, but I've never heard of paying for submission guidelines before.
It would be great if you could post any more information you get from them.

I haven't heard of the magazine either before now, but it appears that the $6.00 also covers the expense of one issue. It's certainly unorthodox to mandate buying an issue in order to get the guidelines, but I think any writer doing research would purchase an issue regardless.

Warning signs:

- Making you pay to get submission guidelines is unprofessional. Sure, you're not technically paying for the guidelines, but rather for an issue of the magazine--but you still have to pay. Guidelines shouldn't come with a price tag. Reputable magazines provide submission information free on their websites.

- Before submitting to a magazine, it's a good idea to have a look at an issue to see what kind of thing they publish. But you can't do that in this case, because Angelica does not seem to have published an issue yet. I found this at another writers' message board--it indicates that the first issue was supposed to be pubbed in November 2005, was pushed back to February 2006, and as yet there's no sign of it. Of course, delays can happen; still, it's not encouraging.

- $0.20 per word strikes me as an unrealistically high rate for a brand new magazine not financed by a larger company or run by someone with a lot of publishing experience. I wonder why a new magazine would handicap itself by paying such high rates; I wonder if it can pay. (For comparison, SFWA considers $0.05 per word a minimum professional rate.)

All in all, I'd hold off on submitting anything to this magazine until it has proved it can actually publish something (and pay its authors).

- Victoria

I've seen ads for it in my writing magazines - I'm automatically suspicious of any magazine who has to ADVERTISE for writers.

I mean, seriously - you can put the word out without taking out glossy ads.

I saw that ad, too, and it did strike me as odd that a magazine was advertising on the back of Writer's Digest. I think this is the first time I ever saw a magazine doing that. I did check the guidelines, but I didn't read more closely once I realized it wasn't my sort of thing. (I don't mind reading an inspirational thriller now and then, depending on the writer, but I have ... different tastes in most of my fiction... )

If I remember correctly, it did look like they will have some of the big name inspirational fiction writers, particularly some of the thriller writers. Could it be that they are backed by someone with lots of money but not much experience in putting out a magazine?

I wonder if they included the fee to try to clamp down on the number of submissions? In that case, why advertise it in the back of Writer's Digest?!

Or maybe they just aren't familiar with How It's Done. Or (being cynical), maybe they hoping to use the ad to sell subscriptions. However, this can't be the case because surely selling subscriptions to writers isn't going to build up a great audience, unless you're a writing magazine. Has anyone seen ads for this magazine anywhere else? I'd be curious to know if they're marketing it in religion magazines, Christian bookstores, etc.

P. S.To be fair, the subscription price offered for writers wasn't bad, and I might be more tempted if I were sure the darn thing would actually come out. Anyway, the magazine might get into debates with the other magazines in my mailbox.

They will email the writer's guidelines for free as it states on the "Writer's Only" page. I did and they sent them to me. I wasn't about to pay to get them. I also pitched a story to the editor (as it requests in WM) and they really liked my idea - as a matter of fact I got a reply email that same day. I submitted the story in mid June and I haven't heard anything back. They ask for ten weeks on subs, so it's getting close to the time where I'll be sending a follow up email.

I'm really wondering about them though. I'm getting the feeling that launching a new magazine was too much, especially for the pay rate they are offering. I have yet to find out if they sent out their first issue in July, and for a while it was listed on Amazon and now it's not.

If I don't get a reply on my follow-up, then I'll know to stop wasting my time and to send my ms out to others. A lot of readers and writers have been patient with them, but they aren't building much respect by constantly pushing its release back. I wonder if they've paid the authors they accepted stories from. A little red flag seems to be climbing higher for this magazine.

I would strongly, strongly suggest folks stay away from Angelica Magazine. Do not subscribe. Do not purchase a copy prepaid. Do not submit.

I subscribed a year ago (Dec 2005). I contacted them four months later to see when I'd get my first issue. Took many emails to get a response saying first issue would go out July 2006. I emailed in September to find out what was the new delay, and if they couldn't get it out soon, I wanted a refund. No reply. I emailed in October, no reply. I emailed in November saying cancel my sub and send me a refund: No Reply. I've been using the addy on the website, so fat lot of good that does.

I've heard from authors who submitted stuff, were told it was accepted, and, boom, no more correspondence or replies to email.

I suggest you keep far away from this magazine. When they don't reply to subscribers with prepaid subs, well, you know they aren't on the up-and-up. I've NEVER had this happen before, and I've subscribed to all sorts of mags, including the staple-it-in-your-home-office variety.

Mirtika S.
Asst Editor, DRAGONS, KNIGHTS & ANGELS Magazine
http://mirathon.blogspot.com
http://specfaith.ritersbloc.com
http://onceuponanovel.blogspot.com

Update on Angelica Magazine: Not just subscribers ripped off

The following was left as a comment to my post 10/29/06 post "Angelica Magazine: My Subscription Saga" :


So , looks like the printer got the shaft, too.

Shameless.

Mirtika

Update

The website doesn't appear to be public-viewable anymore. And that's good, cause solicitating subscriptions when you're basically acting like evasive crooks to current paid subscription holders and to authors left in the lurch is just not cool.

No one that I know of (and certainly not myself) has been contacted with apologies or promises of refunds. And another person posted on the "Faith in Fiction" EZ board about their bad experience with Lynette Fuller and Angelica Magazine.

I did hear one of the authors (one with several novels published) got paid. So, I find it really irksome that my money went to pay an author whose work I didn't get to read cause I never got a magazine.

Mir

I needed to see this thread, I have gotten the run-around from Angelica also, seems to me that L.Fuller is name that popped up in another scam (agents) a few years ago; may not be the same person; but, it certainly is curious.

The Angelica Magazine Saga, pt 1

Mirtika said:

I did hear one of the authors (one with several novels published) got paid. So, I find it really irksome that my money went to pay an author whose work I didn't get to read cause I never got a magazine.
Mir

Click to expand...

Hi Mir (and anyone else with an interest in Angelica Magazine):

I would be at least one of the authors who got paid by Angelica Magazine, and I thought it was about time that someone stepped forward and cleared the air (at least a little bit). I've been hesitant to speak about this publicly because I was holding out hope that Angelica might still become a reality and that there would be a happy ending to this "saga". However, I think the disappearance of the Web site is fairly solid evidence that it's not going to happen.

I am a relatively unknown suspense author with two novels to my credit. My first novel, "Blind Sight" was published by Tyndale in 2003, and my latest, "The Angel", was released by Kregel in 2006. A few years ago, Lynette Fuller contacted me and told me that she had read my novel "Blind Sight". She also told me that she was the editor of a start-up Christian fiction magazine and asked if I'd be willing to submit a short story. I don't write much short fiction, but she was offering 20 cents a word, and I was trying to make a living as a full time freelancer at that time. On top of that, she said that she would include a full page spread for my new novel as part of my compensation. It sounded like a great deal, particularly when one is trying to get his work in front of new readers. So I agreed to write a story for her.

As far as I know, I'm the first author that Lynette contacted about her concept for a quarterly Christian fiction magazine. I recommended another author (a friend of mine) to her, and she asked him to write a story as well. I believe that he also was paid.

In Feb. of 2006, I actually got to meet Lynette and her husband at Jerry Jenkins' "Writing for the Soul" conference. At that meeting she explained that she was an avid reader of Christian suspense fiction, and that she really felt there was a need for a good Christian fiction magazine that would feature name authors as well as up-and-coming authors. It sounded like a great idea, and with names like Jerry Jenkins and Randy Alcorn supplying stories, it also seemed like it was something that would take off.

I'll post more tomorrow, but I wanted to address Mir's frustration at paying to read someone's writing and never getting her money's worth. I have no ties to Angelica other than that I actually got paid for my story. Nevertheless, I can understand the frustration of subscribers who never received anything. Thus, as one of the few authors who was paid by Angelica, I'd like to make this offer:

If any Angelica subscriber will PM me on this message board, I will be happy to send you a .pdf file of "The Price of Empathy", the short story I wrote for Angelica.

Also, if you will send me a snail mail address, I will send you a complimentary copy of my novel "Blind Sight" (while supplies last). "Blind Sight has gone out of print, and I only have a limited number of copies left, but while I can, I'll send you one.

It's not much, but at least it will give you something for your money.

Tomorrow or Monday, I'll give my opinion of what went wrong.